CHAPTER 10

I know you won't like me to remain dependent on you, I need to live a life where I would be free to live without fear at all. I also need to stop being a disturbance to you. Very soon, you will get married to Tom, and I don't want to continue to be a burden to you."

Cara sighed. She wasn't excited with the thought of getting married to Tom. "I haven't told you that you are a burden, have I?"

"No, you have never told me that or even acted in that way but I have to let you live your life, soon you'd be married and start raising kids, you can't be worrying about me at the same time."

Cara let out a breath and shook her head briefly. She kept her eyes staring at his face for a moment without saying anything.

"I'll let you meet my father," she finally broke the silence. "Tomorrow, you'd meet with him. We'd find time after the workout program to go see him."

She saw his facial expression change and realised that he may have thought that she wanted him to stay against his will. "I'm not trying to stop you from leaving, no. You should leave when it's time," she quickly added. "But I believe you should understand that you can not go anywhere until you fully recover. Once you recover fully, it's settled."

"Thanks, Cara," he said gratefully.

She smiled faintly. "So, have you thought of where to move to?"

"I'm not sure yet, I just want to live somewhere far from the public eye for a moment. Once I work and I raise enough money, I would move out of the country to another."

Cara made a chuckle, and she stared at his face with a ridiculous look. "I have enough money to get you out of the country comfortably and start a new life wherever you want to in the world, and you're talking about raising enough money first?"

"You've done so much for me already, Cara. I don't want to add my problems to yours anymore."

She shook her head. "I'm not going to let you struggle to make money. When you're fit, I'll pay for you to get to any country of your choice, and we would set up something for you to do there. Have you thought of any job?"

Henry was silent for a while, and then he let out an amusing smile.

"I just keep getting these ridiculous ideas of wanting to be in the army," he said and chuckled. "But I think I'm too old to join the army now. So, I already joined a developers class online, and I could improve something in that area later."

"You know I own a developing firm as one of my businesses, don't you?"

"Yes, I actually got the inspiration from you." he added a smile. "I want to be like you, I like the way you play around with codes when you work at home."

She smiled, too. "I'm going to organise a personal trainer for you."

"Oh! Thank you."

She responded with a smile. "I have to go in," she said as she reached for the handle of her bag. "I'll be back later."

Her phone rang as she got up and she stopped to take it out. Tom was the caller.

"Hey, love!" she said into the phone as she walked away.

Henry watched her go. He could hear her giggling on her way to the room.

_____________

Meeting The Father

Henry sat eagerly in the well furnished living room, waiting for the arrival of Emery Jack. He had heard so much about the man from Cara already and also read about him online. He had seen several of the man's pictures, and he was sure he would recognize him once seen physically.

He was seated on an armless sofa, his hands placed on his raised knees and his eyes scanning around the sitting room. It was beautiful and expensively decorated, like he expected. He turned sideways and located some pictures hung on the wall. The first picture that caught his eyes was that of Emery dressed in a black suit, his late wife's picture was by the side, and a wedding picture of theirs was in the middle. His gaze lingered on the woman's picture for a while. He couldn't but admit that Cara had gotten her beauty from the woman. Cara was an exact replica of the mother.

"My mother! I wish you had met her alive. She is the kindest woman I know of." Cara said as she entered the living room with two cups of cold milk in her hands. She had seen him staring at the picture intently.

Henry turned back to her slowly. "You look just like her," he said, staring at Cara's face again.

"Yeah, people say that a lot, but my father never agrees. He always wants to believe that I look like him." Cara replied as she got closer to him.

Henry turned again to take another look at Emery Jack's picture. "No, you don't look like your father. You look like your mother," he said as he received the cup of cold cream she offered him. "Thanks."

She smiled in response and moved back to a seat adjacent to him. She rested her back and took a sip from her cup.

"You shouldn't let my Dad catch you saying I look like my mother. He's gonna start a debate with you." Cara said, and Henry laughed out loud. She joined in the laughter and waited until he was silent before she spoke again. "He will join us soon, I told him you're waiting to see him." She said to him, Henry's anxiety returned, and he quickly changed his sitting position. He had read that the man was a well disciplined man and had no time for nonsense. He wasn't sure how the man would feel or think about him.

Cara notified his anxiety. She smiled and spoke some words to ease his tension, "My Dad is a nice man, you need to relax yourself, you would enjoy meeting him."

He smiled back at her.

The man arrived three minutes later. He was putting on a white shirt which had one of his companies' labels inscribed at the centre. He had black shorts on with white sneakers on his feet.

"Henry," he called pleasantly as he walked into the living room.

Henry looked up and stood to his feet immediately when he saw the man. Surprising to him, the man had a pleasant smile on and stretched out for a handshake as he got closer.

"Good evening, Mr. Emery," Henry greeted with a smile.

"Good evening, Mr. Henry," Emery Jack replied.

Henry took his hand in his, and they had a firm handshake, more like business partners.

The man appeared taller than he looked in his pictures, Henry noticed he was only a little taller than the man. It was obvious that Cara got her height from him.

"I'm glad to meet you, sir," Henry answered.

Emery Jack chuckled. "It's my pleasure to meet you, Henry, the man who rose from the dead." He joked.

Henry also laughed briefly.

"Please do have your seat," Emery Jack said and also stepped back to take a seat not too far.

"Thank you."

"I've heard a lot about you from my daughter here already, and I must commend her for being brave to help you.

" The man began. "She didn't give me the details until you rose back to consciousness, and I'm proud of her for being so kind to you."

Henry flashed a look at Cara and caught Cara with a shy smile at her father's remarks.

"I'm eternally grateful to her, sir. I could have been dead if she wasn't there." Henry replied gratefully.

There was silence for a while with the exchange of smiles going on.

"So I heard you plan to learn a new skill and get back on your own soon." Emery Jack continued, he decided to skip talking about Henry's amnesia.

Henry gave a sharp look at Cara, wondering how she had already told him what they discussed last night. "That's exactly my plan, sir."

"It's a good one I tell you, I see you as a brave man since you've decided to take the bull by its horn. You've decided to go on with life regardless of the circumstance. I'm also aware of your security fears, and I'll join Cara to work on it and ensure you're safe during your stay here and even after you leave for another country."

"Thank you, sir, that's kind of you."

The man smiled back in response.

"Well, I was dressing to go out when you both came in. My friends are waiting for me, we planned to have a drink together this evening." The man said as he adjusted himself on the seat, ready to get up. "Would you like to come with me?"

Henry became suddenly dumb. He didn't know what response would be appropriate. He stared at Cara's face, and she didn't help matters by staring at him without any facial expression.

"I think he should go with you Dad, it's time he spends time with men like himself." Cara suggested.

"He has to be willing," the man replied and then stared at Henry's face.

"Of course, I would like to come with you, sir." Henry replied confidently.

"Great," the man got up to his feet swiftly.

Henry noticed the man's swift movement and considered it quite fast for a man of his age. It revealed the agility of the man. Henry joined him on his feet.

"See you later, Henry." Cara bid him goodbye as she watched them walk away.

Henry followed the man sheepishly, wondering why no one was talking about how he was going to return to Cara's place.

"Hey love, I'm at Dad's, and I'm coming over to your place." Cara said into her phone.